Shiraz Blends

Chester Osborn, the remarkable person behind this enormous array of both impeccably high quality and value-priced wines, deserves considerable accolades for what he is able to achieve at all price ranges. If you love Australian wines, d’Arenberg is a winery to seek out as these offerings all possess abundant soul as well as character. In short, the accolades that proprietor/winemaker Chester Osborn receives not only from The Wine Advocate, but virtually everybody in the wine world, are all well deserved.

With a considerable portion of this wine being naturally fermented (no yeast added), the wine reveals earthy aromas of salami, game, and lipstick. These characters prevail on the palate with a smooth glycerol impact following through to the mid-palate, with the exotic characters growing and combining with tannins and a long complex finish.Structurally, the 2003 ‘Laughing Magpie’ is as full-bodied as the 2002 release with a more complex, rich mouth-feel, ending with a beautifully balanced array of fine, rich tannins

Appears bright cherry red with a darker plum coloured core. The nose shows licorice and dark fruits, toasty oak with a chocolatey rum & raisin aroma. The entry to the palate is soft with a rich solid palate that is typically McLaren Vale, with blackcurrant and stewed plum flavours. The structure is typical of Fox Creek showing ripe fruit tannin with integrated oak complexity.

Berries are handpicked at optimum ripeness. Skill, attention to detail and passion invested throughout the wine making process produce wines that delight at the very first taste.

Established in 1979, family owned Maxwell Wines, with its seventy acre estate vineyard, has built a reputation for producing hand made, rich and robust reds that combine exquisite fruit quality with structure and finesse. Located in the world-famous McLaren Vale wine district in South Australia, the winery and vineyards benefit from one of the most favourable sites in the region, providing the wines with a unique expression of the acclaimed McLaren Vale richness and style. Maxwell of McLaren Vale red wines in particular are appreciated worldwide for the purity of fruit and complementary oak handling. With an annual crush of around 250 tonnes only, the winery is able to separately vinify and mature individual vineyard parcels, maintaining the delicacies and nuances of each batch prior to final blending.

Parson’s Flat plays homage to Padthaway’s early settlers with its classic Australian blend of Shiraz and Cabernet. The mail coaches of the nineteenth century not only carried mail, but also had an important function in connecting isolated country communities. It was not uncommon for the district Parson to use the coach system to visit and commune with his parish.

Inky purple, black in colour. Broody, tight-knit dark-cherry and carob aromas with sooty overtones. Stylish, rich fruit with lashings of blackberry, earth and clove spice. Assertive, well balanced oak in line with the fruit weight.

The black/purple tinted colour of this wine is followed by a pure liquorice and wild berry fruit nose. The palate is very firm in structure with fine powdery tannins, warm, rounded mouth-feel and long, dry finish. 

2005 Parson’s Flat has a dense ripe cherry colour with a purple hue. The nose displays a concentrated array of mixed forest berries, smoky cigar box, spicy pepper, clove, caramel and mocha. An initial sweet concentrated explosion of luscious blackberry on the palate leads to savoury spice, coffee bean and liquorice. Cabernet Sauvignon is still evident, contributing some attractive leafy and spearmint/peppermint flavours. Firm and granular tannins leave the mouth with a persistent coating. A finely tuned blend that allows both varieties to express themselves.

The 2004 Descendant is by far the most impressive release of this wine, the colour making that immediately apparent; completely black/purple with healthy, vibrant magenta hues. A pure, wild, powerful nose of blackberry and tar is complimented by a gentle floral lift of lavender and violets. Fullbodied with great concentration, silky tannins and perfectly judged extract, this vigorous and suave young wine has a long, long future ahead of it.

The 2004 Descendant is by far the most impressive release of this wine, the colour making that immediately apparent; completely black/purple with healthy, vibrant magenta hues.

A pure, wild, powerful nose of blackberry and tar is complimented by a gentle floral lift of lavender and violets. Fullbodied with great concentration, silky tannins and perfectly judged extract, this vigorous and suave young wine has a long, long future ahead of it.

With the Shiraz component being dominant, ultra-ripe blackberry, prune and chocolate flavours finish with reasonable persistence.

Muscular-weight, it is supple and harmonious so there is no surprise that it is approachable now.

It's fascinated the way by which Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon blend so well together in a harmony of the senses.

Tasting notes:

This wine has a rich inky red hue in the glass.

On the nose it shows fruit cake characters, blackberries and cranberries, rounded off by secondary aromas of nutmeg with a finish of sweet mint.

Bursting with vibrant bright red fruits, the palate has a lovely juiciness with a lick of earthy mushrooms and truffles. This wine has a nice oak drive, providing balance and persistence, which continues to develop. Feminine tannins maintain its youth with bright primary fruit and integrated sweet vanilla and cedary oak.

From the cuttings taken from old vines used to plant the vineyard, and the Viognier skins the Shiraz was crushed onto, to the barrels it was matured in, this wine is directly descended from RunRig. 

The 2014 vintage benefitted from a cooler period in mid-February, resulting in longer ripening periods and relatively low yields providing fruit with good concentration and depth.

Descendant was picked on the 13th March with lifted aromatics and a rich, pure fruit profile.

Intense, dark berry fruits with an underlying perfume of violet, lavender and spice. Dense dark cherry and blueberry fruit is perfectly interwoven with nuances of cinnamon, spice and pepper.

Full-bodied with great concentration, and silky tannins this suave wine has impeccable balance and a long future ahead of it.